Apparatus for treatment of the feet



May 1945- DE FOREST B. CATLIN 2,374,730

APPARATUS FOR TREATMENT OF THE FEET Filed June 6, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet l Bel b30833. 60:32:21 y 2% & fim

y 1945- DE FOREST B. CATLIN I 2,374,730

APPARATUS FOR TREATMENT OF- THE FEET Filed June 6, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 y 1945- A DE-FCIJRESTY B. CATLIN 2,374,730

APPARATUS FOR TREATMENT OF THEFEET Filed June 6, 1942 s Sheets-Sheet 3 I8 38 44 as A 8 44 s1 Patented May 1, 1945 r UNITED STATES PATENT ornce ArBARa'rUs- FQETREATMENT. e1? DeForest B. Gatlin, Wareham', Mass; mun fies; Janet, 1942, Serial Nor. 446,008-

s crarms; (o1. em -v)- 1 'I'h-is invention. relatesto. improvements in aps-- paratus. for treatment of the feet and: more particularly to apparatusthrough use of: which the bonesiofi th feetwilr be restored to their proper positions and the muscles. ot the feet will be. ex-- ercised, the apparatus while in use: being fully under the control of the patient and not requir an operator other than the patient; Y

The wearing of improperlyfittingshoes, lack,

or exercise or improper walking maylead to various. pathological conditions. of the feet. Treat--- ment of: such conditions. has -beenby foot exercises performed by thepatientor manual therapy applied by. the hands of a podiatrist.

The object, and purpose of the improved apparatus herein. disclosed isto enable a patient by theuse of the apparatus to attain thecorrective' results which would beaccomplished bya trained and expert manual therapeutistwhile at'thesame time the foot musclesare exercised to-retai'n the correctionsand adjustments. a I

It is particularly an object of my invention to provide apparatus-whichmay be used in the home by the patient to simultaneously exercise both feet while at the same time corrective pressure is; applied? to produce flexing ofthe b'ones of the iootsandreturni ofthe arches of the foot to their normal positions. a

It isa further objectof my' invention to provideapparatus which maybe used for the-treatment of the feet; in: a variety-of positions with the. patient either sitting or standing, the vari ably applied weight of the body being used to produce the corrective pressure.

Another. objectof'my invention is the provision of apparatus consisting of'a base and a pair of pivoted pedals adapted/to be engaged by the plantar surfaces of the pair of feet, the pedals having raised; portions thereon to engage the longitudinal and metatarsal arches of the feet and; being further. provided with strap means to produce fixation-of the forepart: of each foot so that the corrective pressures 'will beproperly applied; 1

The-features of my apparatus which are deemed to. be important include; the provision of a rigid baseor pedal against which the foot is pressed, thErbESG or pedal having arch: engaging portions thereon. the curvatures of. which are. emphasized beyond. the normal curvatures of the arches, the provision of: a pair of pedals adapted'to be simultaneously engagedby both feet enabling the apparatus held in place by one foot while tension is being applied the other foot, and the provision. of. means comprising straps for producing. finatibna oi? the. iion'ep'arts of the feet to; produce twisting and; flexing. of the bones of the: feetzas; pressure. is applied; to. the arches.

Further objects and advantages of my imprnve-- merits will; bemore readily apparent: firomath'ee followingdescription. of: apreferred emhndimentz thereof as illustrated in the attached drawings; in which:

Fig; his a, perspective view. showing my improved. device for: treatment of the: fleet;

Fig. 2. is anend. elevation ofi thei device; Fig. 3% isza vertical: section. taken on theplane" indicated in: Fig; 2:

Fig. 4 is aplan view of one otth'e: pedals; the

1 strap. member being brokerpagway for calamity;

bFigr. 5/ is; a; transverse vertical section: of the pedal; showing a modified adjustment; on the: strapy H a Figs. 6 ,-7 =andi 8' are perspectiveviews: showing a pair-offeet associated with the device mama differentpositions of use.= i i i The device for the treatment ofi the 'feet asi disclosed includes a rigid base comprising the platform ll],- theforwardE-bo'ttom: edge Ill-'01 which: rests upon the floorwhile the rear or" heel end is: held in a raisedposition from the door by the. rest-member or foot H The device is intended to befreely movable about-on the floor; but when lateral pressure is: applied by the feet the device isprevented from sliding asthe forward edge l2:

makes a sharp contact with the floor.

A pair of pedals l tland- I8 are pivotally'mounted on the platform l ll. Spring hinge-'members more usedito: connect each pedal? to the'iiaflez The lower hinge part 22- is fastenedto the base in any suitable manner such as by' the screw'bolis 24- secured in position by the: nuts 25, while the upper hinge part l8-is fi'xed to the pedal by the screws 30.- The pair of hingeparts 22 and '2-'8= are connected by the pivot-pin 32 and the hinge parts are normally held in the position shown in Fig: 3' through theprovisionofthe coil spring 34- whereby the pedal is-- in raised position. i

In Fig. lithe heel end of the pedal isin contact with the platform': H]; a suitable cushionor bumper-362 being used if'desi'red so asto scftenthe ca tact. Similarly; cushion'stops 38 may-beappl'ied arches of the foot comprising the inner longitudinal arch and the outer longitudinal arch or the weight bearing portion of the outer side of the foot. The top surface of the pressure member for the longitudinal arches of the feet is preferably formed substantially cone-shaped as shown. The

members 40 may be separately shaped and atably formed with a raised arcuate portion 42,

which serves as a. stop or abutment by engaging the outer longitudinal arch of each foot. The curvature of the pressure members 40 is designed to exaggerate the curve of a normal arch so that when the foot is applied to the pedal and pressure applied thereto a more pronounced curvature will be imparted to the longitudinal arch of the foot.

In addition to the provision of the conical members 40, I provide on each pedal a cylindricalshaped member 44 which extends forwardly from the mid portion of the conical member 40. Each member 44 is smoothly rounded at its forward end. The members 44 form the pressure members which engage the metatarsal arch of each foot. Each of the members 44 is secured to the associated pedal by the provision of a screw 46. It should be particularly noted that each member 44 is made long enough to accommodate feet of varying sizes and it is not necessary toprovide any adjustment as the metatarsal arch will always come in contact with the member 44 at some portion of its length.

In order that the device may be effectively used, some means must be employed to hold the forepart of the foot in position and I provide for this purpose the strap members 48. The ends of each strap are turned and stitched together to provide the looped portions 50 which engage the rods 52. A pair of the rods 52 extend along the sides of each pedal and the rods 52 are fixed at their forward ends by the screws 54. The rear ends of the rods 52 engage. the stop members 56, the outer ends of which are downwardly turned as shown in Fig. 5. The rods 52 may be pushed downward in order to permit removal of the strap 48 from the rods.

The straps 48 may also be adjusted as illustrated in Fig. 5. In this figure one of the looped ends.50 of the strap has been removed from one of the rods 52 and the strap passed between the rod and the side wall of the pedal. In this position the strap is shortened which may be desirable for small feet. It will be understood that the stop members 56 serve to hold the rods against upward movement when tension is apfoot must be strapped or taped in order to prevent immediate return of the bones of the foot to the position before treatment.

It is also well known that there are certain exercises which can be performed to improve the condition of the feet, but in such foot exercises the foot is not held in position by pressure so that a stretch may be applied between the point of pressure and a fulcrum as is the case in manual therapy. p

The device which I have disclosed provides means by which the advantages of manual therapy are combined with the advantages of foot exercises. With my device both feet are placed in position on the pedals as shown, for example, in Fig. 6. The transverse conicalmembers tend to raise the longitudinal arch of the foot. The metatarsal portion of the foot is applied against the cylindrical-shaped surface of the member 44 against which it is held by the strap 48. The device may be used with the patient in a seated position in which position the individual feet may be alternately pressed forward and retracted by movement of the pedals up and down. In Fig. 8, for example, the left foot has pressed the pedal down and serves to hold the base of the device in position while the right foot and the associated pedal is raised. The patient or user may apply just the desired amount of pressure. Initially the feet may be tender and too much pressure may cause. pain and discomfort. Therefore, only a small amount of pressure may be first applied but the pressure may be increased as the foot condition improves. With the patient in a seated position, spreading the knees apart tends to apply more ressure to the outer longitudinal arches of the feet. Furthermore, the user may slide the device ,on the floor forward or to the side to increase the strain. Thus in Fig. 7 the legs are at a sharp angle with respect to the base of the device and a twisting pressure is applied to the feet. v

In order to obtain more effective pressure than can be applied with the .user of the device in a sit- I ting position, the user may be standing up as is the case in Fig. 6. In this position the entire weight of the body is transmitted to the plantar surfaces of the feet 'which are resting upon the arch supportingprojections on the pedals. In the standing position the feet may be alternately moved up and down as in walking and the muscles of the legs will be exercised aswell as the muscles of the feet. I

I claim: P 1. In a'device for the treatment of the feet, a movable pedal adapted to be engaged by the plantar surface of a foot, a member fixed transversely on, said pedal having a'conical surface adapted to engage the longitudinal arch of the foot and a second member extending longitudinally of the pedal forwardly from the first member said secondmember having a cylindrical shape adapted to engage the metatarsal arch of the foot and a strap member associated with the pedaladapted to extend over the instep ofth'e foot to hold the forepart' of the foot in engagement with the metatarsal arch engaging member.

2. In a device for'treatmentof the feet, a pivotall mounted pedal adapted to be engaged by the plantar surface of thev foot,-a transverse member 'on said pedal having a conical surface adapted to engage the longitudinal arch of the foot, said member having a stop portion to engage the outer side of the foot adjacent the outer longitudinal arch, a second member on said pedal extending forwardly from the mid point of said first member, said second member being cylindrically curved transversely of the pedal and being adapted to engage the metatarsal arch of the foot, said second member having a length sufiicient to accommodate feet of varying sizes, a pair of rods fixed to the sides of said pedalv and a strap member slidably engaged at its ends by said rods and adapted to extend over the instep of the foot, said strap member'being longitudinally adjustable with respect to said rods.

3.,In a. device for treatment of the feet, a pair of movably mounted foot supports, each of said supports being adapted to be engaged by one of a pair of feet and being movable under pressure applied by the foot, resilient means effective to oppose movement of the foot supports under the action of the foot pressure and arch engaging projections on said foot supports having curvatures eifective'to spread the bones of the feet which form the arches of the feet, said arch engaging projections comprising a cone-shaped transversely extending projection having an abutment at its small outer end and a longitudinal substantially cylindrical-shaped projection extending forwardly from said cone-shaped projection.

4. In a device for treatment of a foot, a pedal member, means supporting th pedal member for I pivotal movement, means on said pedal to engage the longitudinal arches of the foot, means extending forwardly from said first named means to engage the metatarsal arch of the foot, a strap member adapted to extend over the forepart of the foot, a pair of rods fixed to and extending along the sides of said pedal the forward ends of said rods being pivoted to said pedal, stop members on said pedal adapted to be engaged by the rear ends of said rods, said strap member having loops at its ends slidably engaged by said rods to permit adjustment of the position of said strap member with respect to said pedal.

5. In a device for the treatment of the feet, a base adapted to rest on a supporting surface comprising a platform, a support fixed to the rear end of the platform at an angle thereto whereby the base is supported at the forward end by the platform and at the rear end by the support, said platform being normally forwardly and downwardly inclined with respect to the supporting surface, a pair of foot pedals pivotally mounted between the ends thereof on said platform, resilient means effective to rock the pedals I to bring the rear ends thereof into stopped position against the raised rear end of the base with the pedals forwardly and upwardly inclined with respect to the supporting surface, conical arch supporting projections on the pedals near the rear or heel ends thereof, the large ends of the conical projections being disposed toward the inner sides of the pedals, cylindrical metatarsal arch supporting projections forwardly extending from the conical projections on each pedal, and strap means for holding the feet on the pedals.

DE FOREST B. CATLLIN. 

